After Roxanne Stanton’s children saw their father pass away from a heart attack in their home in September, they couldn’t feel safe there anymore.
Her youngest, Darwin, who is named after his father, was in the room watching his mother perform CPR with instructions from paramedics over the phone.
“All three of my kids took it hard,” Stanton said. “Darwin was scared and didn’t want me to go anywhere.”
Darwin, who is on the autism spectrum, didn’t want to be where his father died, so Stanton put in their 30-day notice at the apartment. They began living out of a hotel and took the long route to school, where Stanton also works, to avoid the former home.
“Finding a place within my budget was hard. In different areas here in Hayward, the prices were outrageous,” Stanton said.
As time stretched on, she started to face the difficult realization that she may have to live out of her car, but her children’s counselor gave her a number to call for families that are facing the same prospects.
The Family Emergency Shelter Coalition called Stanton back that night asking her to come in for an intake interview, and afterward, she and her three kids, ages 11, 9 and 7, moved into the Les Marquis House, a 21-bed emergency shelter on Third Street in downtown Hayward.
